Repetitive strain injury (RSI), sometimes called occupational overuse syndrome, is a growing problem among office workers. It also causes problems with other jobs that involve small, repetitive movements all day. There is a common belief that there is a 'correct' working position, and that if only you can achieve it then problems with your back or wrist will disappear. This is just not true.
Using the Body
There is no such thing as the perfect working position because the human body is designed to move, not to sit still. Addressing repetitive strain injury and back problems is more complicated and it's important to make sure that you constantly use different parts of the body.
RSI in the wrist, for example, often results from holding the arm still and moving the mouse using only your wrist. It's much better to move your arm, and keep the wrist relatively still. This can transfer strain to the upper arm and spine, however, so you still need to act appropriately. You wouldn't sit absolutely still for a whole evening watching television (maybe a bad example, thinking about it) so change position regularly when you're working. Change the angle at which you are sitting, move the legs, and get up every so often just to walk around. This needs to be a conscious act - if you become involved in a long job it's easy to forget to move until real physical pain starts.
Breathing is very important too. Try to breath from the abdomen not the chest. If you find that you're pulling the air up into your chest as you breathe in then this will increase levels of stress and make you feel tense. Breathe by allowing the stomach to expand instead. With practice it feels natural and it has much wider health benefits as well.
It is simply not possible to use a keyboard for sixty hours a week without damaging your health, so try and find ways of getting away from the computer anyway. Write something longhand - fax a handwritten note to people from time to time instead of sending an e-mail. Put your feet up on the desk if you're reading source materials. Your boss won't think you're a slob if you look intense. And if he/she does then you should copy this article. For a small payment we can even supply a second article on why long personal phone calls are another important part of RSI therapy.
Having said that there is no correct working posture, there are some things that need to be right in your workspace, and there are some general rules that apply to the way you hold your body too.
Posture
- Use a foot rest so that your legs are supported.
- Keep the back comfortably straight - in particular try not to let the lower back sag or the head stay bent forward.
- Make sure your forearms are roughly horizontal so that the desk supports them.
- Use the whole body more - don't allow movements to become too focused.
- Stretch regularly (see office Yoga postures)
Equipment
- Don't tolerate a small or blurry screen.
- DON'T work on a laptop without separate keyboard, mouse and ideally screen.
- Replace your mouse at the first sign of wear (I have seen people struggling with ludicrously useless mice.
- Change the relative positions of keyboard and screen regularly. For example, look left in the morning and right in the afternoon.
- Get a telephone headset if you're on the phone a lot. You'll be amazed how relaxing it is.
Environment
- Lighting should be bright but without glare.
- Don't rely on 'anti-glare' filters or other horrors - deal with the problem at source.
- Flourescent lights are evil instruments of pain.
- Get yourself a desk light.
- Persuade your boss or yourself that your chair should be good enough to avoid crippling you by the age of 23.
Article by permission from "Yoga without Tree Hugging" December 2000
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